Importance of the Work of God—“The Kingdom of God or Nothing”—Apparent Insignificance of the Church at First—Its Growth—Ancient Men of God—Personal Reminiscence—What is Required of the Saints—How Joseph Smith's Prayers Were Answered

We meet with the Saints of the several Stakes at the Stake Quarterly
Conferences for the purpose of giving instruction which all need in
order to qualify themselves to magnify their calling as Saints of God,
engaged in establishing and building up the Church and kingdom of God.
And I will here say, as I have often said, that all men, and all
women, regardless of the position they occupy, or the office they
hold, are dependent upon the Lord for His Spirit to assist them in
their labors.

I made a covenant with the Lord, years ago, that whatever He would
impress me to say, I would preach to the people. If we are not
able to speak to your edification, it is not because there are not
truth and knowledge, principles and laws sufficient within the pale of
this Church, and connected with the work in which we are engaged. I
look upon the cause of God and the mission that He has given each of
us connected with it, as requiring the whole attention, the might,
mind and strength of each one of us, in order to magnify our calling
and accomplish the work committed to our hands.

The Lord raised up Joseph Smith specially to do the work that he
performed. He was ordained and appointed before he was born to come
upon the stage of action in this age of God's mercy to man, through
the loins of ancient Joseph who was a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, to lay the foundation of this great and glorious dispensation—a
dispensation that will be marked and distinguished in the annals of
human history for its grand and mighty, and also its serious and awful
events. The day has already dawned when the light of heaven is to fill
the earth; the day in which the Lord has said that nothing should be
kept hidden, whether it be things pertaining to one God, or many Gods,
or to thrones, principalities or powers; the day in which everything
that has been kept from the knowledge of man ever since the foundation
of the earth, must be revealed; and it is a day in which the ancient
prophets looked forward to with a great deal of interest and anxiety.
It is a day in which the Gospel is to be preached to every nation,
tongue and people for a witness of what shall follow; a day in which
the Israel of God who receive it in their dispersed and scattered
condition are to gather together to the place appointed of God, the
place where they will perform the “marvelous work and wonder” spoken
of by the ancients who, in vision, saw our day; and where they will
begin to inherit the promises made to the fathers respecting their
children. The work that is to be so marvelous in the eyes of men has
already commenced, and is assuming shape and proportions; but they
cannot see it. It will consist in preaching the Gospel to all the
world, gathering the Saints from the midst of all those nations who
reject it; building up the Zion of God; establishing permanently in
the earth His kingdom; preparing for the work of the gathering of the
Jews and the events that will follow their settlement in their own
lands, and in preparing for ourselves holy places in which to stand
when the judgments of God shall overtake the nations. This is truly a
good work; and it is a marvel (when we look at it with our natural
eyes) how this people are sustained in their faith and hope of
accomplishing it, besides having to provide for the wants of
themselves and families, which is of itself as much as most men can
accomplish. We cannot do the work which God through us intends to have
done, unless we place ourselves under His care and direction, and take
the sentiment, “The Kingdom of God, or nothing,” for our motto, as
well as the end and aim of our life. This we must do to be truly the
servants of God. We cannot serve God and mammon. We cannot build up
the Kingdom of God and withhold our hearts from Him. We must either
come under the dominion of God, and be led and directed by Him, or
under the dominion of Satan, and be ruled over by him. It is for us,
through our faith and works, our desires and course of life, to
choose which we will take, as we must take the one side or the other.

Nobody in this world has cause to rejoice as we have. None have the
encouraging future before them that we have; for Zion is not to be
moved out of her place, neither is “the kingdom” to be given to
another people. God rules and reigns, and we are His people, and He is
our God.

This work, this marvelous work and a wonder, the work that will
eventually fill the whole world—and neither man nor the devil can
prevent it—commenced, as all the works of our God begin, in a small
way. It was likened by the Savior to the mustard seed, the smallest of
all seeds, put in the soil, which grew until the fowls of the air
could lodge in the branches thereof. This certainly is the
characteristic of this Church and Kingdom, commencing as it did on the
6th day of April, 1830, with only six members. But the Lord told
Joseph in one of the revelations that he was laying the foundation of
a great work, how great he knew not. Joseph was young at that time,
and could not comprehend fully the nature of the work which he had
been called and appointed to commence in the earth.

When Joseph presented to the Christian world the principles that God
had communicated to him, he at once aroused their prejudices; he had
to struggle against traditions which they had inherited from their
fathers who knew not God nor His ways, traditions which had come down
to them through the ages, which were antagonistic to the saving truths
of heaven. And hence his life was one continual struggle, meeting with
opposition on every hand, especially from the priests of the day; but
he lived through it and rejoiced greatly in his labors until he
finished his testimony in the flesh, after laboring some fourteen
years to that end. He had to wade through deep waters; but he never
was discouraged or disheartened, notwithstanding he had to contend
against foes without and foes within. He never lost sight of the
majesty of his calling, nor the divinity of this work; but spake and
acted in the midst of the people under all circumstances the man that
he was—the Prophet of God, the Seer and Revelator of the last
dispensation. He left us under painful circumstances, sealing his
testimony with his blood; but his works follow him. The Gospel of the
Kingdom which he preached, flourished under the wise administration of
God's servants who followed him. The Lord blessed and sustained His
Apostles, and led them to this land, where the standard of Zion has
been planted, which begins already to attract the notice of the
nations afar off. And here in this land, notwithstanding the
difficulties we have had to wrestle with, incident to settling a new
country a thousand miles from civilization, having also to protect
ourselves against the raids of the wild and untutored Indians, the
Lord has prospered us, and blessed us on every hand; and we are today
a blessed people. Yet the Christian world is opposed to us, and the
Christians generally hate us. The Savior himself had the same spirit
and feeling to contend against. There was no man more unpopular than
He; no man more persecuted than He. And why? Because He preached false
doctrine? No. The real reason was, as He himself declared, because
they loved
darkness better than light, because their deeds were
evil. There are but the two powers, that of God and that of the devil.
There is but the one true and living God, and He is our Eternal
Father, the creator of this earth: and He will give it to His children
to inherit.

We are nearing the end of the 6th thousand years. We have the history,
or a partial history, of the dealings of God with the nations from the
day of Father Adam down as contained in the Bible and the Book of
Mormon, from which we may learn many valuable lessons. God has raised
up at different ages certain men to do a certain work, as He raised up
father Abraham. He was a noble spirit, we are told, before he left the
realms of glory to come and tabernacle in the flesh. He had the spirit
of the Gods with him when he was born; and he was faithful to God, and
He had confidence in him; and whatever God required at his hands, he
performed. So with Enoch. He stood at the head of the dispensation in
which he lived. He, in the course of time, some 350 years, built and
perfected the city called Zion. He, however, met with all kinds of
opposition from the people among whom he labored; but the power of God
was manifested to such an extent that his enemies stood and trembled
through fear; and through that power he was enabled to perform the
mighty work which he and his people did; it was not because the devil
and his party were any more kindly disposed towards the Saints of God,
but because they could not help themselves; and in the wisdom of God
Enoch and his people and their city were taken away from the earth.

The devil in different ages has made war against the Saints and
overcome them; and he has tried his best to destroy this Church and
Kingdom. As I have said, Joseph and the first Elders met with the
fiercest kind of opposition; but, with some exceptions, we have stood
it all, and are the better today for having passed through the fire.
When we went upon our first foreign mission, Joseph said to us, “No
matter what may come upon you, round up your shoulders and bear it,
and always sustain and defend the interests of the Church and Kingdom
of God.” When we took our departure his demeanor in parting was
something that I had never noticed or experienced before. After
crossing the Mississippi River I crawled to the side of a house and
lay down upon a side of sole leather, while suffering from the chills
and fever. While resting there the Prophet Joseph came along and saw
me. He gave me some parting advice in answer to some remarks made, and
then told me to get up and go on, and all would be well with me. That
is the way I parted with him upon that occasion. From that day to this
I have noticed the steady growth and increase of this people. We have
nothing else to do but to build up the Kingdom of God. If we do this
He will keep us and provide for us. We want to labor as a body of
Priesthood, to enter into the holy of holies; we want to come before
God, and pray until we get the spirit of this work, until we
comprehend our calling before God.

There has never been such a dispensation upon the earth as the present
one. In other dispensations men had to lay down their lives, and
others to hide up in dens and caves of the earth, and wander in
sheepskins and goatskins, for the
word of God. We have had a taste
of the same treatment in our day. And we have also seen days of
poverty. When for instance, we left to go on our first English
mission, two dollars would have bought everything I left to feed and
clothe my wife and children. I hardly had a day's provisions in my
house. It was a good deal so with my brethren; but we did not stay to
nurse our wives. Those were the days of our poverty; and we never knew
what it was to be comfortably well off until we came to these valleys
of the mountains. We had a great many trials in those days or what we
called trials. I want to get this principle into your minds, that God
Almighty is guiding the course of this Church and Kingdom, and not we;
and He has organized it for this day and generation and it never will
be rooted out of the earth again. The Prophet Joseph knew what he was
doing; in fact, he knew much more than he dared to tell on account of
the prejudice, traditions and unbelief of the people. I used to have
peculiar feelings about his death and the way in which his life was
taken. I felt that if, with the consent and good feelings of the
brethren that waited on him after he crossed the river to leave
Nauvoo, Joseph could have had his desire, he would have pioneered the
way to the Rocky Mountains. But since then I have been fully
reconciled to the fact that it was according to the program, that it
was required of him, as the head of this dispensation, that he should
seal his testimony with his blood, and go hence to the spirit world,
holding the keys of this dispensation, to open up the mission that is
now being performed by way of preaching the Gospel to the “spirits in
prison.” But those who shed his blood, and the people and nation who
sanctioned it in their hearts, have that to meet, and they can no more
escape the penalty thereof than they can escape the death of the body.
My views and feelings in regard to the Twelve and leading men of this
Church have been this, that when they leave this stage of action they
will be permitted to lie down in peace surrounded by their families
and friends; and also, that God will never require them to stain their
hands with the blood of their fellow men, in order to protect
themselves from violence; but, that the Lord will fight our battles,
and frustrate the measures that would lead to such an issue. And the
wisdom of this is manifested in the fact that part of our duty is to
build Temples, and officiate in the same; and this we could not do so
acceptably to God if our hands were stained with the blood of our
fellow men, even in our own defense. Hence I believe that God will
cause the wicked to slay the wicked; and that He will cut off our
enemies by judgment from time to time, as it shall be deemed prudent
by Him. All is peace in Zion, and I thank God for it. I am reminded of
a saying made by Brother Cannon upon entering the well furnished
parlor of one of President Merrill's houses, of Richmond, in Cache
County. “What,” he said, “all this and heaven too?” Yes, God
intends
to give to His Saints the good things of the earth, as well as the
blessings of heaven, as they shall become able to use them properly.

The Lord intends to build up His Zion through us His weak and feeble
creatures. He intends to make Zion strong and powerful in the earth.
He will bless us with means and He will put it into our hearts to
build Temples to His name, in which His
Saints may perform the
work that is required at their hands in redeeming their dead.

Brethren and sisters, you should live by faith, realizing every day
that all power rests with God, and that it is through Him that we are
able to live in peace and enjoy plenty; that it is through Him the
wrath of our enemies is turned aside from time to time, and that it
will be through Him that the remainder of their wrath will be
restrained. You should enter your secret closets, and call upon the
name of the Lord. Many of you have learned how to pray; then fail not
to let your prayers ascend up into the ears of the God of Sabaoth; and
He will hear you. I think sometimes that we do not fully comprehend
the power that we have with God in knowing how to approach Him
acceptably. All that these men holding the Priesthood, and all that
our sisters need do, is to live near to God, and call upon Him,
pouring out their soul's desires in behalf of Israel, and their power
will be felt, and their confidence in God will be strengthened. But
the blessings of heaven can only be obtained and controlled upon the
principles of righteousness. I have heard the Prophet Joseph pray when
the power of God rested down upon him, and all who heard him felt it;
and I have seen his prayers answered in a marvelous manner almost
immediately. Governor Reynolds on one occasion employed men to try and
kidnap Joseph, and they almost accomplished their designs, but Joseph
had some Gentile friends as well as his brethren, through whom he was
rescued, and was taken to Nauvoo and released under a writ of habeascorpus. But the Governor continued to harass him with writs, and was
determined to destroy Joseph. Joseph and the Twelve went before God in
prayer, Joseph kneeling before the Lord, offered up prayer, and asked
God to deliver him from the power of that man. Among other things he
told the Lord that he was innocent before Him, and that his heart was
heavy under the persecutions he endured. In about forty-eight hours
from that time word reached Joseph that Reynolds had blown his brains
out. Before perpetrating the deed he left a note on his desk stating,
that as his services were not appreciated by the people of the State,
he took that course to end his days.

There is another instance that occurs to my mind. A certain man took a
stand against Joseph, and endeavored to bring persecution on him. He
went to his God and laid the matter before Him, asking to be delivered
out of the hands and power of that wicked man. Joseph was a Prophet, a
Seer, a Revelator. He was acquainted with God; he knew the voice of
the Spirit when it spoke to him. After offering up his prayer, the
whispering of the still small voice came to him saying, “Wait with
patience.” The next day that man was taken sick with cholera, and died
in a few hours. See how quickly the Lord answered his prayer offered
up while a prisoner in Liberty Jail. At that time, Presidents Young,
Taylor and several of the Twelve were on their way through Clay County
to lay the cornerstones of the Temple, in fulfillment of the
revelation given in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 118. Joseph
had no sooner called upon God than he was liberated; and his prayer
answered to the very letter. The voice of the Spirit again spoke to
him, speaking peace to his soul, and telling him that his troubles
should be of short duration. It was
but a few days when he had
the pleasure of shaking hands with his brethren, and enjoying the
society of his family and friends. Joseph lived to accomplish the work
that was required of him notwithstanding the persistent and determined
opposition that he had to contend against. And after his death the
work still went on, God and His angels all the while guiding and
sustaining by His Spirit the Prophet Brigham. And He will continue to
sustain His servants, and through them and His people Israel He will
bring to pass the greatest and grandest work that the world has ever
known. It is for us to wake up to a sense of our duty, and call upon
the Lord in humility, and live near to Him; and our eyes will be
opened, as in the case of the young man, the servant of the ancient
Prophet Elisha, and we will see that there are more for us than
against us; and that the element of opposition tends only to hasten
the fulfillment of the purposes of God. Put your trust in God and rely
on His promises, living up to the light and knowledge you possess; and
all will be well with you whether living or dying. God bless you,
Amen.